Delivery mechanism for bag machines



March 6, 1934. A. POTDEVIN DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR BAG MACHINES Filed April 12, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Y fia mf' e We, ATTORNEYS.

March 6, 1934. A. POTDEVIN DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR BAG MACHINES Filed April 12, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 VEN TOR. M.

A TTORNEYS.

March 6, 1934. A. POTDEVIN DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR BAG IMKCHINES Filed April 12-, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 NVl-INTOR.

MMMSZQTTORNEY Patented Mar. 6, 1934 PATENT OFFICE DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR BAG MACHINES Adolph Potdevin, Garden City, N. Y., assignor to Potdevin Machine Company, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 12, 1932, Serial No. 604,740

6 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved machine for use in connection with the making of bags, and has for one of its objects the provision of an improved construction which adapts the mal chine for use in connection with the making and delivery of bags of various types.

More specifically the present invention provides a machine having two types of delivery more or less interrelated, however, means being provided whereby a change-over can be made from one delivery to the other when changing from one type of bag to another.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevational view of an embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 1A is a perspective view of the gripper controlling mechanism by which the bag delivery is selectively controlled;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the machine of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of part of the machine of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 shows in elevation a detail of part of the delivery mechanism.

The machine of the present invention is adapted to form bags from the web, print the bags if desired and then to discharge the bags either upon a traveling belt or conveyor running transversely of the machine or to stack the bags upon a stationary delivery platform, all of which will be brought out hereinafter.

Inasmuch as the bag forming mechanism and the bag printing mechanism do not constitute a part of the present invention the same will not be described in any detail, except to say that so far as the bag forming mechanism is concerned the same delivers the bags to my improved mechanism between feed rollers 1 and 2. A bag designated 3 has been indicated in Fig. l as just passing between these rollers.

4 designates chains extending lengthwise of the machine and mounted on sprockets 5. These chains carry a series of rods 6 extending transversely of the machine. At intervals each of these 5 rods carries a series of grippers 7 cooperating with clamp rods 8 also carried by the chains and lying parallel to the rods 6, the bags being gripped or clamped between the grippers and the clamp rods so as to be advanced from the rollers 1 and 2, at the entry end of the delivery mechanism to and through the printing mechanism, etc. at the opposite end of the machine, the bags finally being delivered upon the discharge platform 9 or the discharge belt 10, as the case may be, and as will be brought out hereinafter.

. Each of the rods 6 is provided with springs 11 with one end fastened thereto and anchored at the other end to the chain, for instance, the springs tending to close the grippers 7 upon the clamping rod 8. Each gripper rod 6 is provided with an actuating finger 12 for opening the gripper, these fingers being actuated by a fixed cam 13. Reference to Fig. 1 will show the finger 12 of one of the gripper rods just engaging the nose of the cam 13, while the finger 12 of the next gripper rod is shown in engagement with the high spot 14 of the opening cam, giving the gripper its maximum opening against the action of the spring 11.

It will be noted from Fig. 1 that with the gripper in this full open position the bag 3 passing from. between the rollers 1 and 2 will be advanced between the gripper and the clamping rod 8 so that when the finger 12 rides oil the high spot 14 permitting the gripper to close the bag will be held to the rod 8 to be carried teward the other end of the machine.

A plate or other suitable device 15 is located at this point so as to facilitate the proper guiding of the bag into position between the gripper '7 and rod 8.

As just above noted the grippers are springclosed and to prevent too sudden closing of the grippers upon the clamp rods 8 and perhaps injury to the grippers, the same are provided with an additional finger 16 which at the entry end of the machine is adapted, as will be seen from Fig. 1, to engage a rod 1'7 located below the chains 4 so that as the lower lead of the chain travels to the left, as viewed in Fig. 1, the finger 16 will remain in engagement with the pin 17 until the gripper fully closes on the bag, the finger 16 traveling away from the pin as the chain progresses which of course permits the gripper to close.

Assuming that a bag has been fed to the chains 4 and gripped thereto or to rod 8, the grippers 7 96 remain closed until the bag is conveyed through the printing mechanism, etc. and until the finger 12 of the gripper engages the nose of the cam 13. This will open the gripper sufliciently to release the bag. The point of release of the bag, as will be seen from Fig. 1, is immediately above the belt 10 and consequently the bag will drop down upon the belt and be conveyed out of the machine to a suitable delivery station.

To insin'e release of the bags successively from the grippers I have provided a rocker arm 18 extending over the belt 10, this arm being carried by a rod 19 extending parallel with the belt and mounted in suitable bearings 20. The rod 19 is no provided with a plurality of holes for the reception of the end of the arm 18 so that the arm can be adjusted transversely of the machine. The rod 19 carries a cam follower or roller 21 engaging the face of a cam 22 mounted on a shaft 23 extending lengthwise of the machine and driven by a gear 24. The cam 22 is so shaped as to impart an intermittent rocking motion to the shaft 19 and the arm 18, this motion as will be appreciated being properly timed so that the arm 18 will strike the upper face of the bags as the clamps 7 are released by engagement with the nose of the cam 13 as above described to knock the bags downwardly upon the belt 10.

As above pointed out my machine is adapted for two types of delivery, consequently when the bags are not to be delivered upon the belt 10 they will be delivered upon the delivery platform 9, that is, they will be released from the chains 4 before the grippers reach the cam 13. Adjacent the end of the chains remote from the cam 13 I 1, adjacent the remote end of the chains 4 with reference to the cam 13 so that the bags as they travel along with the chain are released at this point instead of being carried further along to be dropped upon the belt 10. At this same end of the carrier chains I provide roller segments 26 adapted to cooperate with a roller 27 over which the bags travel at all times whether the bags are to be delivered to the chain 10 or platforrn 9. This segment is so timed that the segment and the roller 27 will feed the bag forward upon its release from the gripper finger 7 and as soon as the gripping finger is moved forward sufiiciently to clear the leading end of the bag. At this point, also, I provide an air pipe 28 provided with a nozzle 29 extending upwardly in a proper direction to conduct the blast of air to the underside of the bag so as to hold the bag up against the underside of long fingers 30, the bag as it is advanced by the roller 27 and segment 26 along the underside of these fingers being passed between two feed rollers 31 and by them fed forward into position to enable the bag to drop upon the delivery platform 9, a plate 32 being provided adjacent the receiving edge of this platform and extending therefrom to a point adjacent the periphery of the lower of the two feed rollers 31 to insure the delivery of the bag upon the platform.

It will be understood, of course, that where the machine is delivering bags upon the belt 10 the pin 25 may be rotated out of operative position or removed from the machine entirely just as desired, and that the air blast through the pipe 28 will be cut off. This will permit the grippers passing the pin 25 without opening and to travel to a point above the belt 10 where they are opened by the nose of the cam 13 to permit the bags to drop on the belt, as above pointed out.

The bags in being delivered upon the belt 10 are engaged by a pusher 33 which is mounted on a pivoted bracket 34, the rod for this bracket carrying a spring finger 35 which engages the periphery of a roller 36 mounted on the shaft carrying the pulley 37 for the delivery belt. The periphery of this roller 36 is provided with a notch 38 and it will be appreciated that as the roller is rotated the spring finger 35 will intermittently drop into the notch 38 so that the pusher 33 is given a rectilinear motion.

The pusher 33 is adjustable for bags of various size, the outer end of the pusher being adjustably held to the bracket 34 by a thumb screw 39.

The bags as they are discharged from the end of the belt 10 are deposited on a receiving platform 40.

Adjacent the delivery platform 9 I provide mechanism adapted to shift the bags to one side after a certain number have been deposited on the platform. In this connection referring to Figs. 2 and 3 it will be seen that the platform 9 is provided with a rear wall 41 extending transversely of the machine and against which the bags shown at 42 in Fig. l are deposited as they are discharged upon the platform. To provide for proper deposit of the bags on the platform an adjustable plate 43 is provided thereon and this plate is set so that the bags just clear the same as they are dropped upon the platform by the rollers 31.

Above the rear wall 41 of the receiving station is a cam 44 mounted on a bracket 45, being held to this bracket by a spring-mounted screw 46, this mounting permitting of raising the rear end of the cam for a purpose to be hereinafter pointedlout.

Removably mounted adjacent the receiving end of the platform 9 is a frame structure 47 on which is pivotally mounted a crank arm 48, pivoted at 49 at the top of this framework as ap-'.'

pears from Fig. 2, the crank arm moving about the pivot in a direction transverse of the receiving platform 9 and as a matter of fact transversely of the machine as a whole. To the lower end of the crank arm 48 is secured a rod 50 extending transversely of the machine, this rod carrying a cross rod 51 which in turn is provided with a pair of depending arms 52. The member or rod 51 as just noted extends lengthwise of the receiving platform and at one end carries a roller 53 which is adapted to engage the cam 44.

54 designates a gear carrying a crank 55 provided with pins 56 and 57 removably mounted in opposite ends thereof, these pins being adapted to engage an angle 58 on the crank arm 48 so that as the gear 54 is rotated the crank arm 48 will be moved from the full line position shown in Fig. 2 to the dotted line position in the same figure to effect reciprocation of the rod 50. This movement of the crank arm 48 and rod 50 is op posed by a spring 59. As the crank arm 48 is moved to the left, as viewed in Fig. 2, the roller 53 will roll up the face of the cam 44 until it reaches the end of the cam. At this time the pin on the crank 55 which is engaging the angle 58 will be disengaged from this angle, so that as the roller 53 drops off the end of the cam 44 the spring 59 will draw the crank 48, rod 50 and cross rod 51 to the right again as viewed in Fig. 2. Of course when the roller 53 drops off the end of the cam the depending arms 52 will drop behind the stack of bags and as the spring 59 functions these arms will move the bag stack to one side making room for a new lot of bags, the first stack being removed by hand as will be understood.

In its return to its original position the roller 53 and the member 51 carrying the depending arms 52 pass between the rear end of the cam 44 and the wall 41 of the receiving platform due to the spring mounting of the cam, as above explained, so that on the next engagement of one of the pins of the crank 55 with the crank arm the roller 53 will again ride up along the cam to raise the arms 52 and the cycle of operation will be repeated.

As above mentioned the pins 56 and 57 are detachabiy mounted in the crank arm 55 and by removing one of these pins the time cycle of operation is doubled, permitting the stack to be doubled before removal. The time cycle may be otherwise varied as desired merely by changing the gearing by which this mechanism is driven. In this connection the gear 54 which has already been referred to is driven from a gear 60 on a shaft carrying a worm gear 61 which is in mesh with worm 62 the shaft carrying this worm being provided with a gear 63 which is one of the drive gears for the machine.

Inasmuch as the frame 47 carries the shifting apparatus including the worm gear 61, gears 60 and 54, it will be appreciated that when the platform 9 is not in use this mechanism may be lifted from the machine simply by dismounting the frame 47.

From all of the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided an apparatus wherein the bags may be discharged upon a traveling belt such as that shown at 10 or upon the stationary platform 9 as desired.

It will be appreciated also that the bags are carried to these two delivery stations by the same mechanism, to wit, the chains 4, and when shifting from one delivery to the other it is merely necessary to set the pin 25 in proper position and to cut off the air from pipe 28 or turn it on as the case may be.

It is to be understood changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts above described within the purview of this invention.

What I claim is:--

1. In a bag machine, the combination of a delivery platform, a delivery belt, a bag conveyor, said platform overlying said conveyor and said belt moving transversely of said conveyor, grippers carried by said conveyor, and means cooperating with said grippers adapted on one setting to release the grippers when adJacent the delivery platform to effect delivery of bags to the platform and when in another position permitting the grippers to carry the bags into position for delivery to said belt.

2. In a bag machine, the combination of a delivery platform, a bag conveyor, said platform overlying said conveyor, a delivery belt moving transversely of said conveyor, grippers carried by the conveyor for holding bags thereto, a pin adapted when in one position to engage said grippers to open the same for release of the bags attached to the conveyor for discharge to said platform, said pin when in another position permitting the grippers to pass in closed position, and means thereafter cooperative with the grippers to open same for release of the bags for delivery to said delivery belt.

3. In a bag machine, the combination of a bag conveyor, rods carried by said conveyor, grippers cooperating with said rods for releasably attaching bags to the conveyor, a delivery platform overlying said conveyor, a delivery belt moving transversely of said conveyor, means for opening said grippers automatically for delivery of bags to said platform, and separate means for opening said grippers automatically for delivery of bags to said belt upon varying the setting of the first mentioned gripper opening means.

4. In a bag machine, the combination of a bag conveyor for forwarding bags through the machine, self closing grippers carried thereby for the attachment of bags to the conveyor, means at the receiving end of the conveyor for delaying the closure of said grippers as bags are fed to the conveyor, a delivery platform, a delivery belt, means for automatically opening said grippers for delivery of bags to said platform, and additional means for opening said grippers for delivery of bags to the belt.

5. In a bag machine, the combination of a bag conveyor, means for releasably attaching bags to said conveyor, a delivery platform, stacking mechanism including a drive therefor, a delivery belt, means for controlling said grippers for the 11 selective delivery of bags to the platform and the delivery belt, said platform, stacking mechanism and drive being detachably mounted as a unit on the machine.

6. In a bag machine, the combination of a bag conveyor, grippers for releasably attaching bags to said conveyor, a delivery platform, means for opening the grippers successively when they have been moved to a position adjacent said platform, roller segments for forwarding the released bags toward the delivery platform, fingers overlying the bags as they are forwarded toward the delivery platform, and means for applying an air blast to the underside of the bags during this period to hold the bags against the underside of said fingers.

ADOLPH PO'I'DEVIN. 

